Lucinda Collins
by Megan1997
Summary: Lucinda Collins is the towns new resident, Morganville won't even see her coming...literally. But her arrival hasn't come noticed, obviously, it's Morganville. Nothing is as it seems, which is why Lucinda will fit in perfectly. Or not. A tale of love, loss, and mystery, read on to discover what is in store for the resident of Morganville when trouble is waiting round every corner.
1. Chapter 1

_Lucinda _

The dry heat of the Texan air consumed me as I stepped out of her 'escorts' car, I wasn't used to the hot weather yet, and found it rather uncomfortable. Sweat wasn't my thing. Manoeuvring my very full, and very impractical, school bag over my shoulder I hip bumped the heavy car door shut.

"Do you need help with anything Miss?" asked Mr Jacob. He was my 'Personal Escort', as my parents called him, they knew I hated the thought of having a butler but it was "unacceptable for someone of her class to be without a proper carer" apparently. I liked Mr Jacob, but I liked her independence more. I won the war of only having him take me to and from class though, which was a mini triumph.

"No I'm good Mr Jacob, and how many more times, call me Luce?" I replied.

"Then I shall leave you now, and at least one more miss." _Oh course, _I thought_. _He gave a polite smile and slipped back into the driver's side. "Do you want me pick you up after class?"

"No, it's fine, I want to explore the town a bit, see where everything is if that's alright, but please, don't tell Mum if she asks?" Her parents didn't live in Morganville, they relied on Mr Jacobs updates every few days to check on me, and they would expect one today with all the juicy details of me first day at Uni. _Well it's not the first time, _I thought.

"Of course not miss Collins, be careful" I nodded and headed towards the entrance to the university.

_Good,_ I thought when I could hear the engine accelerate and get fainter as Mr Jacobs drove off, _Now to get down to business. _With that, I turned and headed down the familiar road which would take her to Founders Square.

_Oliver _

_I hate humans. _I thought as I mopped up some arrogant student's coffee spill. It irritated me they had such pathetic reflexes sometimes, although it was amusing that the greasy haired boy had tripped over the chair scrambling away. He deserved it. I wasn't in a good mood and he pushed it, and he learned a valuable life lesson. Don't ever sass a pissed off vampire. I slopped the pulpy mess of napkins in the bin under the counter and surveyed the people sat at the tables. It was quiet this morning, so I decided to take the opportunity the change the coffee filters in the machines. It had to be done sooner or later.

I was busy when she came in, so I didn't notice her. I didn't even hear her coming to the counter; it was her scent that caught my attention. It filled my nose with a strong, yet soft smell of fresh strawberries, and flowers. Humans didn't smell like this usually, a fain whiff of perfume maybe, but this wasn't perfume, no it was an actual _scent_. The familiarity of it pained me, _who was this girl?_ I couldn't resist any longer, dropping the gooey filter paper turned to face her.

_I know you,_ I thought. Her green, almond shaped eyes widened ever so slightly as she met my gaze_._ Her face softened and she gave me a pleasant smile. _She's hiding something, for heaven's sake WHO IS SHE?! _I searched her features attempting to trigger a memory. Nothing. Was I paranoid? She was very beautiful, there was no denying, dark auburn hair flowed in endless waves to her waist, she had a pale complexion, but not sickly pale, and faint freckles sprinkled the bridge of her shapely nose adding even more depth to her big green eyes. I was taken aback by her beauty and only realised I was stood gaping when her delicate brow furrowed slightly. She quietly cleared her throat. Embarrassed, I snapped out of it.

"Sorry I was, err, what can I get you?" I asked, she smiled again, the itch of recognition tapped the back of my mind.

"A mocha latte please" Her voice was smooth and flowed with a British accent. I was getting irritated, _maybe I've just seen her around, served her before or something, _I thought.

"Have I seen you around here before?" I blurted.

"I don't think so, I only moved here about a week ago" _Oh. A new resident?_ Amelie hadn't mentioned this, I am usually present during the…'explanation'.

"Oh" I said, "Take out?" she nodded and I placed the cardboard cup under the spout.

"Have you lived her long?" she asked. I could feel her looking at me.

"Yes, a…very long time." I turned to face her again. Her body language was relaxed, but there was unease about her. "Have you spoken to the founder yet?" I didn't like the influence this girl had on me; I didn't seem to filter speech correctly around her. I had never experienced this around a human before.

"Amelie? I'm on the way now. Is it far from here?" Oh, so Amelie intended to show her alone. Interesting.

"No not far." I clicked the plastic lid on and handed her the warm mocha. She handed me a $5 bill.

"Keep the change Oliver" she winked and walked out. I watched her leave in shock. _She knows my name. SHE KNOWS MY NAME?! _I threw the money in the till and slammed it shut. Grabbing my coat, I yanked my phone out my pocket and dialled.

"Oliver? What the hell it's my day off!?" Eve's voice yelled down the line. God she was a pain.

"I'll pay you double."

She paused. "Triple and you have a deal"

"What?! Fine. Just get here quick I have important business to attend to."

_Myrnin_

Bob was lost. LOST. He wouldn't even come out for his favourite, bowl full of dead flies. I had no choice. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Frank!" no reply. "FRANK!" nothing. "FRAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKK!" a grey 2D image of a man dress in what I would call…'rough' attire appeared, looking less than amused.

"I heard you the first time. You can't summon me blood sucker, I don't answer to you" he wasn't taking of course, just projecting his voice through any nearby speakers in the surrounding room.

"Actually Frank, you do, considering you would starve to death without me"

"Do me the favour Count-nutjob"

"Oh do shut up, this is serious. Bob is missing and I need you to locate him" his face twisted into an amused smirk. "It is NOT funny. Do it. Now" I had already called Claire but she was in class for the day, surely this loss of Bob was way more important but apparently not.

"Oh seriously leech, it's a spider" my glare must have changed his mind as he continued "he's down by my controls" he smiled at me. Smiled.

"I do not trust you Frank. Any funny business and I swear I will let that tank run dry for a bit, see if you're so unruly when you're half-starved." Frank scowled at my direction and then dispersed. I cautiously headed down to the control room. Control Room? I like that; it makes it sound like some super-secret liar extension.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lucinda_

_Not good. Not. Good. NOT GOOD. _Lucinda thought as she hurried away from the coffee shop and is most likely frantic owner. _That was a stupid mistake_, _what is wrong with me? It must be because I'm back; the machine must be having an influence on me. I have to stop it. _Her heart skipped in panic and she broke out into a run. _This could ruin everything_. The dry heat didn't help as she became sweaty and tired quickly, but still she pressed on. This wasn't going to be anywhere near easy. On her first day back she had managed to almost get herself caught, she wasn't going to fail. She couldn't fail.

In what seemed like forever before she reached where she needed to be. Slowing her paced so that she could catch her breath, she took in the scene before her. At first glance, and to any normal person it looked like a regular suburban area. But Lucinda knew. Her gaze locked on the Founder house around 10 feet ahead of her. It was older than the last time she had set eyes on it, she had expected this of course, however she felt a pang of sadness to see the great house had become so time worn. _Don't get sentimental. You're here for a reason. Focus. _Averting her eyes she scanned the area next to the house. _There_. She thought,_ the entrance is that way. _The jogged over to the alley and stood for a moment. She inhaled deeply through her nose and was met with a fusty and old scent. _Yes this is it_. Slowly, she edged down the alley as quietly as she could. At the end, she could see an aged wooden door with a huge rust ridden padlock. _Great, well now what? _She thought as she reached out and felt the hefty thing.

_Myrnin _

Well I was not impressed. Bob was in fact in the control room. I gave him a good scolding about how he must not ever do that to me again unless he was trying to give me a heart attack. As I went to pick him up and place him on his favourite spot on my shoulder, something caught my eye. On Franks controls, a red light was flashing. That was not good. Not good at all.

"FRANK!" I shouted. The hazy figure appeared. It was easy to see how he could have been mistaken for a ghost with the translucent tendency of his projection, the image couldn't be 100% due to the light particles and the way they acted when merged together to give a suspended image, something I had figured out many years ago. "I will give you 30 seconds to explain to me why you did not notify this to me IMMEDIATELY before I may just slip and ACCIDENTALLY mess with your circuits giving you a bit of a … shock"

"Again blood sucker, I don't answer to you" the hollow voice replied.

"25…24"

"Ok! Jesus. Look I couldn't tell you about it anywhere else than in here else it would have meant bad news. That's why I let bob out-"

"YOU LET BOB OUT!? HAVE YOU ANY IDEA WHA-" I fumed.

"SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR DUMBASS SPIDER AND LISTEN. As I was saying, I let bob out so that I could inform you we have a new visitor"

"What on earth are you talking about? Why couldn't you have told me about this up there?"

"You heard me" he smirked "someone managed to hack my controls, guess you're not that smart huh?"

"Hack?! But…that's impossible. Who could…there's no way…" I was utterly bemused. Many scenarios passed through my mind. Had I done it in my sleep? Was it Frank's work? Was this his idea of a joke? And then something else came to my attention. "You didn't answer my question, why couldn't you tell me up there?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Because, the new person's outside the entrance to the liar."

I froze. Outside the lair? So they must know of me, whoever this intruder was. Which means it must be a vampire. Would Amelie know of this new visitor?

"Frank is it male of female? Vampire or human?" I asked hastily.

"I don't know" Anger surged through me, what was he doing?

"What do you mean you don't know?! Of course you do! Just tell me Frank I really have had enough of this game." He rolled his eyes which made me want to gouge them out of his arrogant, and well in need of a shave, face.

"I mean what I say blood-sucker. I don't know. It's not game, my system recognises there is a stranger here, but other than that I am clueless." This was not possible. Something in furthest depths of my mind twitched, like the feeling you have forgotten something but you can't for the life of you remember what it is.

Then almost ironically there was a knock at the door…

_Lucinda_

I hated the thought of just knocking on the door. It was ridiculous. But there was no other way. I would make out like a lost and innocent girl and Myrnin would invite me in expecting for me to be helpless and drink form me, when in reality I would just knock him out and get the job done. I waited anxiously for him to come to the door. Sure enough I heard his half shuffling footsteps (most likely caused by slippers, his favourite foot wear) and strangely he paused behind the door. A key slid out from under the door, obviously for the humungous pad lock. How very odd. I reached down to retrieve the key, placed it in the lock and turned. It clicked softly and I unhooked it from the door. Nothing happened. I let the lock clumsily thud to the ground. Nothing again. He obviously expected me to go in so he could pounce first. I wasn't having that so I knocked on the door again. Nothing. I was getting annoyed now, Myrnin and his theatrics. Why didn't he just open the freaking door?! I internally sighed, braced myself and opened the heavy door.

Inside it was poorly lit and it smelled old and musky, so not really any different to the last time I had entered this lab. Before proceeding I was careful to use my senses to see if he was around. I couldn't sense him close, but he sure as hell was here. I slowly moved forward careful to dodge scattered books and random instruments on the floor. I decided to play the game.

"Hello is anyone here?" I called out innocently, still wandering around, looking for something to use to hit him on the head with. There really wasn't much to work with; I'd have to use a chair or maybe a big book. "Hello?"

"Who are you?" his voice came from in front of me, in the actual lab itself. It was very dark in there; I would have to feign not being able to see. I walked towards the lab aimlessly with my arms outstretched.

"I'm lost I was wondering if you could help me?" I said as I reached the door, grabbing the doorway to add effect. I took another few steps forward and scanned around the room being careful to make sure that my eyes didn't stay in one place in case he caught on that I could see perfectly. There, at the back leaning against a chalk board. I kept my eyes moving, but the glimpse I caught of him his posture was relaxed and slightly amused with his arms crossed against his chest.

"That didn't answer my question" His voice was mocking, yet smooth and even after all this time made my heart skip a beat. Another glance. He was wearing a purple velvet coat which came down to his knees and split off into two tails, and his face sported a confident smirk.

"Why would I tell a stranger my name?" I replied just as confident, and then I remembered that I was supposed to be playing the innocent lost dazed victim. I deliberately stumbled and stopped walking as to try and salvage my previous act.

"Why would you walk into a strange place with a huge padlock on it, unlock it and talk to a strange man in the dark?" _he knows, _I thought to myself, _here come the fireworks…_


End file.
